Merry Christmas to all of you!  We started our marathon with a birthday party for Owen on Sat, followed by a baby shower Sunday, Christmas eve on Monday and the big shebang yesterday. We have had a merry time but I won’t lie, this extrovert has been stretched if that ever was possible. We are all tired and using this day to re-coop and enjoy the surprise snow!  My parents arrive this afternoon to stay at our house. We are planning a less exciting and lower calorie few days before they have to head back to Texas

Before I jump in to pictures of our holiday festivities I thought I would share a few holiday superlatives!

Most applicable book

I won’t be shocked if someone writes on here that this book doesn’t exist in real life and appeared miraculously for our family. Jackson came home with this from the library and as I read it I laughed out loud. Grab The Wild Christmas Reindeer by Jan Brett. This child, Teeka, is supposed to train the reindeer for guiding the sleigh and they are wild and keep fighting and locking antlers. Teeka realizes that she continues to lose her patience and raise her voice and that doesn’t help the reindeer obey. So she determines to not yell and the reindeer begin to obey her. Hmmm. If that isn’t a Christmas miracle I don’t know what is.

Most likely to cancel each other out?! 

the chia and flax seeds are camping out on top of the Christmas cookie tins. Hmmm. I just gave in to adding the seeds to yogurt and oatmeal, but I haven’t totally given up the tin contents. Is that like ordering fries and a diet coke?

Most likely to be treasured forever

Jackson gave us the first gift of the season. He made this pinch pot in his class. I love that he used his little fingers to craft each part. It was wrapped in crumpled tissues paper and a little frayed piece of red yarn, such sweetness.

Least likely to stand still award

Owen performed a few Christmas songs with his bible study class. I hadn’t really prepped him for the performance but for those of you that know Owen I was fully expecting him to be jumping off the stage, calling out about going to the bathroom…instead he held his hands together and stood perfectly still, and he didn’t sing a single word. He did flash a few smiles!

Most comical Bedtime song

Silent Night…they just aren’t so silent around here. Between casts and dreams and earning stars on sleep charts we are just in a funny season of life. Sure glad the stable was silent and baby Jesus didn’t make a peep but mine sure make a peep.

Most memorable Christmas gift of Christmas past!

tiredest elf

Best Joke-ster Award

Santa brought Jackson a joke kit and he was cracking himself up all day. PopPop was the recipient of the bug ice cube!  and we’ve all got snapped fingers from his gum offers!

Most Helpful Husband

Seth and I hosted a Christmas eve buffet for our family and my sister-in-law’s family. He worked all day with me to pull it off!

Most unexpected treat!

snowy day!

Biggest Christmas surprise of 2012!

my little brother is going to be a daddy in June!

Hope you all are enjoying a cozy holiday season!